Presented by GYG
Friday, November 14th, 2025
Good morning! Welcome to The Tradesman, a 5-minute newsletter tailored just for America’s tradesmen—presented by Grab Your Gear.
🌌 The Northern Lights stretched all the way to Florida over the weekend thanks to a strong geomagnetic storm. Onlookers caught some incredible photos of the lights which you can see here, and read about more in The Goodie Bag.
Step into the holidays with handcrafted leather boots from Tecovas—built to last, made to impress, and shipping free on orders over $100. Read more on today’s featured brand below.
🚢 The Shipwreck That Shook the Great Lakes
This week marks 50 years since the sinking of the Great Lakes’ largest ship at the time, the Edmund Fitzgerald.
The 729-foot iron ore carrier sank on the fateful day of November 10, 1975 after the “November Gales,” a nasty storm environment that can produce waves up to 60 feet high, came earlier than expected.
The Edmund Fitzgerald, circa 1970
The shipwreck tragically took the lives of all 29 sailors, with most of the crew hailing from the Midwestern states of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Check out a video of the wreckage of the shipwreck, with audio from the last ship to see the Fitzgerald on that fateful day here.
Walk into the holidays with confidence and craftsmanship.
Whether you’re headed home for the holidays or out on the town, Tecovas boots bring timeless Western craftsmanship to every step. Each pair is handmade with premium leather, built to last, and made to look even better with age.
This season, get 10% off your first order and enjoy free shipping on purchases over $100—because great boots should travel easy.
🤠 Shop now and find a pair worth giving (or keeping).
🚚 Toyota Issues Recall on Tundras
Japanese carmaker Toyota issued a recall of over 100,00 vehicles, including Toyota Tundra trucks for engine issues.
The recall was made after the company discovered that machining debris may not have been cleared from the truck’s engine during manufacture, leading to a potential loss of power for drivers at high speed.
The recall includes model years 2022-2024 Toyota Tundra pickup trucks. You can see more info on the recall here.
Morning Meme
🔫 Huge Thanksgiving Firearms Giveaway
The American Suppressor Association is raffling off 11 awesome prizes in a Thanksgiving giveaway including a $6,000 Daniel Defense rifle package and a $4,000 Sig Cross Sawtooth package.
The giveaway also includes several thousand-dollar suppressors, and multiple other rifles in the thousands of dollars.
To enter, you can either purchase raffle tickets, or enter for free by entering “1FREETICKET” when checking out a raffle ticket.
You can see all eleven prizes and enter the giveaway here.
The Goodie Bag
The Northern Lights hit the U.S. pretty hard this past week, stretching as low as Florida, with observers capturing some incredible photos. (See Photos)
Black Friday is just around the corner, and this guide lists the best deals on American-made tools for any hard-worker this holiday season. (See Best Deals)
If your kid is a grease monkey, you’ll want to check out this gift guide of the best car gifts for teens. (See Guide)
📰 In The News
Polymarket, an oddsmaker for several events, is projecting another rate cut of 0.25% from the federal reserve next month.
If the rate cut occurs, you can probably expect mortgages to dip to an average of below 5%, the lowest mark for homebuyers since 2022.
Read more on the likelihood of the rate cut, and what it means for homebuyers here.
POLL
Previous Results
How often do you go to the movies? 🎬
Once a month - 12.5%
A couple times a year - 50%
Never - 37.5%
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